FY 2017-18 Revenue and Transfers In by Fund

MOULTRIE, Ga. — The City of Moultrie is preparing to approve a budget more than $7 million less than last year.

Most of the difference can be explained by responsibilities being transferred to other agencies, but there’s been some actual savings too, City Manager Pete Dillard said.

“We have reduced costs across the board,” Dillard said.

The budget, which shrinks from $58.8 million in Fiscal Year 2016-17 to $51.1 million in FY2017-18, comes with a tax cut of 2.883 mills, and Dillard said he’s optimistic about the possibility of another tax cut in the future.

“To cut taxes at the same time as we increase our bond rating from A to A+ is tremendous,” he said. “Increasing the bond rating means the bond holding agencies look at us as a better credit risk and as a more financially responsible organization even with reduced taxes.”

Significant reductions in the budget include:

• Separation of the Recreation Department into the Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority, which happened July 1. The authority can levy its own taxes, so the city no longer has expenditures for it.

• Elimination of a stipend for the Moultrie-Colquitt County Economic Development Authority, which can now levy its own taxes too.

• Transfer of responsibility for Emergency 911 entirely to the Colquitt County Commission. The city and county had split the cost for the service evenly, Dillard said, at a cost of about $200,000 each. But the city was actually responsible for a smaller percentage of calls, he said. To avoid an issue with duplication of services, the county took on the whole program July 1.

• Sale of CNS to an independent authority, the South Georgia Governmental Services Authority, of which Moultrie is a part owner.

CNS, which provides broadband, cable and other telecommunications services, was a joint venture of the cities of Thomasville, Moultrie, Cairo and Camilla, Dillard said. It was losing money and all the owners but Thomasville were interested in selling it outright. Under Thomasville’s leadership, the cities formed the South Georgia Governmental Services Authority, which issued $35 million in bonds and purchased the company from the individual cities.

Moultrie received $5.6 million for its share, and Dillard said that “paid all but a little bit of what the city had in it.”

The cities still own the authority, Dillard said, but the extra layer of incorporation reduces their liability for it. City of Moultrie employees still sell and bill for CNS’s services, but it’s employees of the authority who install and repair the infrastructure.

In theory, Dillard said, CNS was supposed to be self-funding but it had never been. The City of Moultrie had been spending about $100,000 per year of tax money on it, and this new arrangement eliminates that expense. Organizers hope it will be profitable under the authority, and if so, the City of Moultrie will receive dividends from it.

“I don’t expect any profits from it this year or next year,” Dillard said.

The city’s efforts to control health care costs helped the budget too.

“Our present health insurance cost including claims is a million dollars less than the previous year,” city Finance Director Gary McDaniel said.

Moultrie City Council expects to approve the budget and tax rate at the Sept. 19 council meeting.